Your Vote is Your Voice: Make it Heard!

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the
right to vote except the American people themselves and the only
way they could do this is by not voting."

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Ronald Reagan, in his first inaugural address, reminded
us: "We are a nation that has a government-not the other way
around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth.
Our government has no power except that granted it by the
people."

In other words, "the consent of the governed," as eloquently
stated in the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, that
extraordinary document's principal author, also wrote that: "[It
is] by their votes the people exercise their sovereignty."

Indeed, and it is by their votes that the people determine the
outcome of elections. If there is one thing NRA members know, it is
the fundamental truth that elections matter. We know that we must
work unrelentingly to elect candidates who support the Second
Amendment, and to defeat candidates who disrespect our Right to
Keep and Bear Arms.

The sad truth, however, is that there are some among our
gun-owning ranks who aren't even registered to vote. We've all
heard the excuses.

"My vote won't make a difference."

"Voting doesn't matter, politicians are all the same."

"It's too much trouble."

It's up to us to convince these gun owners why such thinking is
dangerously misguided. We also need to show them that registering
to vote is easy, taking only a few minutes at the kitchen table or
on the Internet (www.nraila.org is a great place to start).

We must convince our friends that their votes count. The last
governor's race in the state of Washington was decided by only 129
votes out of 2.8 million cast. And how about the 2000 presidential
election? More than 105 million Americans voted, but only 537
ballots in Florida kept Al Gore from moving into the White
House.

As for the notion that all politicians are the same, ask your
non-voting friends just where we'd be today if a President Gore had
been able to continue Bill Clinton's eight-year assault on our
rights. Now is a particularly good time to ask, with Hillary and
Bill pulling out all the stops to return to 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue.

Our work is cut out for us in 2008.

We must ensure that every gun owner and sportsman is registered
to vote. The good news is that we have important advantages over
the anti-gun crowd. With some 80 million lawful gun owners in the
United States, we can focus our voter registration efforts with
rifle-shot precision on those places where our fellow citizens who
support the Second Amendment can be found.

As an NRA a member, you are perfectly positioned to assist in
this tightly targeted effort-providing voter registration materials
to your local gun club, shooting range, gun shop and gun show. Make
sure you and your family, friends and fellow firearm owners and
Second Amendment supporters are registered. Then, all that's left
is to make sure they vote.

Don't forget that every state allows for early and/or absentee
voting. Most states have few or no restrictions on such voting. The
anti-gunners know these votes determine election outcomes -can
anyone forget the Gore 2000 campaign's cynical effort to disqualify
our service members' absentee ballots?

With the rise of early and absentee voting, Election Day is no
longer a single day, but rather a period that can last for weeks.
Voting early or absentee "banks" your vote, freeing you up to help
friendly candidates' campaigns turn out the remaining pro-gun votes
on Election Day, when final victory is won.

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Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.